Now you can see a Bicentennial marker at the oldest professional observatory in the nation.

        It's at 3489 Observatory Place, off of Observatory Avenue — in either Hyde Park or Mount Lookout.

        “Everybody claims us,” said Jim Neumeister, director of the Cincinnati Observatory Center. “Our location depends on where you're from. We're sort of in between both places, but we say Mount Lookout.”

        A bronze Ohio Bicentennial marker, giving a brief history of the observatory, was dedicated Sept. 7.

        In 1842, Cincinnati College astronomer Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel built what was then the world's second-largest refractor telescope. He ordered its 12-inch lens from Munich, Germany, for $9,000 — a lot of money in those days.

        Three years later, the Cincinnati Observatory opened atop Mount Adams on four acres donated by Cincinnati businessman Nicholas Longworth. In the mid-1800s, the observatory became the home of the United States Weather Bureau, a forerunner of the National Weather Service, directed by Dr. Cleveland Abbe. Unfortunately, by 1868 observation at the site was affected by dust and light pollution. So in 1873 it was relocated to Mount Lookout.

        For a century, the University of Cincinnati operated the observatory. In 1947, it was named the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center. The Cincinnati Observatory Center took over the site in 1999.

        The observatory is open for public tours, programs and viewing.

        Information: 321-5186.

        WYOMING — Last week, Wyoming officials dedicated an Ohio historical marker to commemorate the Stearns family of the Stearns and Foster Co.

        The marker is at Stearns Woods, near the intersection of Oliver and Glenway roads. Edwin Russell Stearns donated the property for the Green Areas Trust of Wyoming in April 2001.

        The dedication is free and open to the public.

        The Stearns family is prominent in the city, developing the first library and church (the Presbyterian on Wyoming Avenue, built in 1870) and operating the Stearns and Foster Co.

        The business, founded as a cotton mill by Seth Foster and George S. Stearns in 1846, was family-owned and operated for 139 years. It still operates today, although the family no longer owns it.

        Stearns and Foster supplied Abraham Lincoln's casket, donated mattresses during the flood of 1937 and helped build the first high school in Wyoming.

        The city has commended the Stearns family “for its commitment to public service and their business leadership through the last century ... the leadership and direction brought the company by members of the Stearns family has made the Stearns and Foster Co. one of the strongest and most stable businesses in the region and in the state over the past decades.”

        LEBANON - Warren County is planning to remember its 200th birthday by burying a time capsule. It will be placed in a sealed vault and buried in the Bicentennial Commons as a part of the county's major celebration.

        “It is our hope that the vault will be opened in the year 2103 and that those opening it will find interest — and possibly amusement — in its contents,” said Pamela Swartz, Warren County's records manager and archivist.

        She said the mission of the time capsule committee is to “sustain and preserve a collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. . . . to offer a wide range of historical and cultural artifacts as a contribution to education and lifelong learning.”

        Some of the more interesting items suggested for the capsule include literature pertaining to botox; a disposable camera; a mobile phone (as an artifact); information about Lasik eye surgery; a bar code label and scan wand.

        Of course, there are also the obligatory journals and diaries, letters from kids, speeches, sheet music, toys and membership rosters for fraternal groups.

        Suggestions? Contact Ms. Swartz at spetpa@co.warren.oh.us or committee member Shirley Gray at graysa@co.warren.oh.us.

        LEBANON — In 1802, one year before Warren County came on the scene, Lebanon was founded.

        To celebrate its bicentennial, the city is offering a number of mementos to the public, including a lapel pin ($4), coffee mug ($5), hat ($10), T-shirt ($10) and sweat shirt ($30). Most items use the city's bicentennial logo. Call (800) 832-7065 or visit Morgan and Taylor, 6 W. Mulberry St., Lebanon.

        Bicentennial Notebook will be published periodically through 2003. Send items to Randy McNutt, The Enquirer, 7700 Service Center Drive, West Chester, OH 45069. : 755-4158. Fax: 755-4150. e-mail: Rmcnutt@enquirer.com.

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